Somehow Familliar
by Koujinbutsu
Summary: Naru is back and the ghost hunting continues. Set 4 months after the manga - POV: Third person focused.
1. Coming Home 1 - Shadows

Disclaimer - I don't own ghost hunt—I only wish I was that good of a writer

Note: The time line for this is after the manga. Enjoy.

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Mai walks home, sighing from her day at work. She'd found the job about a week after being forced to leave SPR four months prior-when Naru closed it. The boutique seemed like it was harder work-constant movement the whole time and, thinking of it, Mai remembers how sore her shoulders are and attempts to massage them as she walks. The hardest part of the job wasn't manual labor or anything, she'd had a lot harder time moving Naru's heavy ghost hunting equipment. No, at the fashionable boutique, it was more the kind of mindless repetition that tends to happen in mundane jobs. Working there, is nothing like it is-was working at SPR where she could make a difference even if it was a tiny bit. As she walks along, her thoughts wander to the guy who, when he left, took everything that mattered with him-even Eugene.

Mai slows her steps without thinking. Gene, true to his word, hadn't shown himself to her since he'd warned her that he probably wasn't going to see her again. She sighs once again this time heavily and her steps stop altogether. _He's moved on_, she tells herself. _His business is done here_, she concludes trying to convince herself before forcing the dead boy out of her mind. She places one foot in front of the other, once again starting her plod on home.

The last few months she'd been trying to sort out all of the feelings and experiences that she'd had concerning the Davis twins. She came to realize that she did like Gene, but who knows how well she'd actually known him. And in the end, nothing would ever be able to come of it so it was pointless to think about.

As for Naru...he also held a special place in her heart even when he'd been...well, stubborn, prideful, and, at times, a jerk. But, he'd also protected her, he'd apologize when he was wrong, he listened to her words and opinions, and he could be nice and considerate. He'd even do magic tricks for her-something he'd never shown anyone else aside from playing with his deck of cards in the open.

She walks along lost in thoughts of the 17 year old young man who'd left such a large impression on her and proceeds through the gate of her complex. Looking ahead, she spies her apartment, takes the purse from off of her shoulder and proceeds to open and rummage around in it for her keys. She fails to notice a shadow detach from the gate that she'd just come through and make it's way after her with long, silent strides. It reaches out for her and grabs her on the shoulder.

Mai lets out a short scream and jerks away, at the same time turning to see her assailant: a man with a pale face dark hair and dark, cold, brooding eyes. Frightened, she turns to flee. He grabs her again, this time by the arm. Mai inhales to get ready for a full fledged scream, struggling to pull her arm away from his strong hand and debating how bad it would be to use the 9 cuts on him—she'd practically vowed she'd never use it on a human ever again. Deciding that she mustn't break that promise to Bou-san, she releases her scream, loud and shrill, still tugging away. The man's other hand quickly clamps down on her mouth. Both hands pull her against his lean chest where she continues to struggle against him.

"Mai, calm down, it's me," the guy says hurriedly.

Upon hearing his voice and recognizing it, she begins to stop fighting. Once she relaxes, he releases her and Mai turns to him once more, gazing into his face. Sure enough the pale face, black hair, and wise blue eyes look like Naru's.

"Naru?" She lets go of the breath she'd started holding and takes a few more, all the while working to get it into her already adrenaline filled mind that it really is him standing in front of her. "You scared the heck out of me!" she states unnecessarily.

"I was standing in plain sight," he states in his own defense, "you were just too preoccupied to notice. It's not good to let your guard down like that."

He's treating me like an idiot again, she thinks before huffing, "Well, excuse me for being lost in thought!"

"Tell me, what was it you were so focused on," he asks not reacting to her annoyance.

"Um..." she says while she wracks her brain for the moment it takes for her to come up with a safe answer, "nothing much," she says looking away from him, wanting to avoid going into the subject any further. _Way to be transparent Mai_, she quickly scolds herself mentally. Not giving him time to think on it, she decides to change the subject. Looking back at him, she asks, "So what are you doing here? I thought that you were going to stay in England."

It takes a moment or two for him to answer, "Would you rather I go back?" he asks calmly.

Her gaze snaps back at Naru, eyes meeting his, questioning how he came to that conclusion. "No, it's not like that at all," She insists.

"So you missed me." Naru says in an uncharacteristic whisper, looking away. Mai blinks up at him trying to understand his reaction. "Or," he looks back at her his face expressionless, "you just wanted to see Gene's face more."

"It's not...I..." she mutters flustered trying to look anywhere but at him. She starts again, "when you..." she spares a glance at him seeing his smirk. _He was just playing with me_, she observes annoyed. Immediately, she drops the subject with a frown, getting serious. "So what brings you here so late?"

"Business." he says matter-of-fact.

"Oh?" She says curiosity overriding her irritation. She ponders to herself, w_hat kind of business could he have around here so late at night unless it was_, "With me?" she asks aloud.

"Yes." he answers.

_Of course_, thinks Mai, _he's the kind of guy who always has a reason for everything he does. He wouldn't come see me if he didn't_. She looks around, taking in her surroundings better and thinking, _I've been keeping him standing out here. Where are my manners?_ "Do you want to discuss it over some tea or something?" she says gesturing towards her apartment.

"No," he says shaking his head, "It won't take that long and I've got to get back soon."

Questions roll through Mai's mind, but the one that comes out is, "So then, what did you want to discuss?"

He takes a breath and lets it out before saying, "I'm reopening SPR and I want to hire you."

_Really? Does he mean it_, Mai asks herself, doubtfully.

"Will you work for me again?" he asks.

"You really want me?" she asks starting to feel a flutter of hope blossom inside her.

Naru nods.

Mai smiles, bobbing her head twice, and says, calmly, "I'd love to," in response.

He gives one of his half smiles saying, "Good. I'll see you on Monday after school."

Mai smiles back and says, "See you then."

He nods once again and turns and walks off towards the gate.

_He gets right to the point and then off he goes_, she thinks. Mai watches his back as he walks away, her smile turning into a grin, "Goodbye mundane job," she says to herself and the night.

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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed making it.


	2. Coming Home 2 - Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the original story.

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Mai walks quickly from the train station to Shibuya street. Upon rounding the last corner, she spies the old architecture of the tall, brick plaza that houses SPR. She smiles up at it and quickens her pace once more, in excitement. On her way here, she'd stopped by home to dress in her new "Work outfit"-the one she'd splurged on with her last SPR paycheck-something that would reminded her of the professional formality that she'd seen so much with Naru, Gene, and Lin. In the end, she'd bought gray pinstripe slacks with matching block heeled shoes, a white, small-ruffled bib shirt and a black halter to cover it.(1) The clothes seemed to suit her and they were professional looking, yet didn't look as gloomy as the clothing worn by the guys she'd come to know. Thinking of her clothes and coming to the base of the building, she takes a moment to stop and check her appearance in the reflection of the downstairs cafe shop windows. After a quick look over, she decides that her appearance needs tidying and takes a moment to preen herself. When she deems herself decent, she continues on, towards the elevator, and takes it up to the second floor.

Walking down the hallway, she comes to the door with an elaborately frosted window. Grabbing onto the handle, she looks at the fine gold calligraphy. "SPR," it says in large letters with the words "Shibuya Psychic Research," in small letters underneath. Mai takes a deep breath, raises her head confidently, and exhales while turning the knob and pushing the door open.

The first thing she sees when she walks in the room is someone sitting at her old desk. The girl finishes writing something and looks up. "Hello, can I help you?" Mai is surprised when she recognizes the girl. Last time they'd met, SPR had taken a case at her school that ended up being caused by hitogata curses placed seemingly random all over the school grounds. Yuko Takahashi, Taka for short.

Taka gets up from her chair and cocks her head to the side quizzically, "Oh! Hey! Long time no see," she says smiling, "I love your haircut. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Hey, Taka." Mai says suddenly uneasy, seeing her job being done by someone else. "You work here now," Mai asks pleasantly, though secretly hoping that she was wrong and that Taka was only here by coincidence or about another case or...or something!

"Yeah, I'm an assistant like you were when we met." she says happily-utterly destroying Mai's frail hope. After all, there's no way Naru would have a need for three assistants when they weren't on a case-there's barely enough work for two assistants here in the office.

Before Mai can think of anything else to say, she hears a calm, deep voice question "Mai?" and turns to see Lin framed in the doorway to his office holding a stack of large books in his hands, his hair, as always, covering one side of his face-forever covering his right eye.

Masking her current distress with a smile, she greets him, "Hey, Lin-san. How are you?" she says remembering to keep her voice cheerful.

"I'm doing well, thanks," he says walking to the sitting area, "And you?" he asks setting down his stack of books on the coffee table there.

She makes her way towards him. "Well enough. Say, I need to talk to Naru. Is he in," Mai asks him.

"Yep, he's here," Taka answers instead from her chair behind Mai. Taka continues, "but Shibuya-san is currently talking with Norio. I think they should be done soon."

Mai returns her gaze back to Taka, who has turned around towards them in her chair. It takes a moment for Mai to remember that "Norio" is Bou-san's stage name and that Taka was a fan of his. "Bou-san is here?" Mai asks pleased, she'd always liked the father/older brother-like figure.

"Yes, he is." Taka says with a little too much pleasure in her voice. "Sounds like Naru has a job for him to do..."

At the mention of Naru getting even more help, even the happiness she'd found due to Monk's being around crumbles. Under the strain, Mai's unease breaks and worry creeps into the foremost of her mind instead. She loses focus on Taka's words, caught up in her worry.

Her eyes shift over to the clock which reads, "16:50." It's close to Naru's normal tea time-the best time to ask questions and talk with him about troubling things.

Now that she's running on frayed nerves and feels the need to calm down, Mai decides to be productive and make tea, black tea.

Taka continues, "...Norio can-"

"Do you want some tea?" Mai interrupts-Normally, she wouldn't be so impolite.

"Sure. Um..do you want me to make it?" Taka says standing up.

Mai shakes her head "I'll do it," she says heading to the small room housing the kitchenette. "Lin, would you like some tea," she asks as she passes him.

"No thanks," he responds.

She puts a spoon full of tea leaves into the tea filter and then pours in the already heated water from the electric water dispenser and leaves it to brew.

It's not long before she takes tea to Taka and sits on the couch nearest the kitchenette to enjoy her own cup having left Naru's portion covered to keep it from cooling while he's talking with Bou-san and she works on drinking her own.

Her worry has lessened back down to unease by the time Bou-san comes out of Naru's office. "See you later, Naru-bou," he says casually before closing the door behind him and looking around the room.

"Hey Bou-san," Mai greets him when he spies her.

"Mai," he says smiling as he walks over and, barely allowing her time to put down her mug, pulls her into a hug, "I've missed you."

"It's only been, what, two weeks," she responds laughing and hugging him back.

"So it has." he says light heartedly. He sighs a small sigh and then continues somewhat more seriously, "Are you ready to tell me who the creep is that made you want to cut your hair?"

"Nope," Mai says smiling up at him.

"Dang. You've got to promise to tell me sometime," He insists.

"I'll make no such promises." she says pushing away.

"I'll get it out of you someday," he vows before he lets her go.

Grabbing her tea once more, she offers, "Would you like some tea," before taking a sip of her own.

"I'd love some, but I've got to go to practice." He says rubbing her hair affectionately.

"Aright, see you later," she says continuing to smile.

"Yeah, See ya. See you too Taka-chan," he says waving over at Taka. " Lin," he says nodding to Lin as he passes the man on his way out the door.

Finishing her tea, Mai rinses out her own cup and grabs the tray holding Naru's. Remembering to remove the cover, she takes his tea into his office without waiting for a response to her knocks and places it down on the desk.

Naru glances up and does a double take, "Mai," he acknowledges. His gaze moves down to her clothes and back up to her face.

"Naru, Is something wrong?" she says looking down at her clothes self consciously and reaches up to touch her recently ruffled hair, but finds it laying well enough. It can't be my hair cut, she thinks, he saw that the other night, "is it my outfit? I tried to look more professional." she explains, "Does it look strange?"

He glances at her clothes again and back up to her face. "No, your outfit looks pleasant enough," Naru responds grabbing his tea and sipping it.

"Then why are you staring at it?" she asks.

Meeting her eyes, he just sips more of his tea. "Never mind, don't answer," she sighs. "More importantly: Why is Taka-chan sitting out there doing my job. I thought you were rehiring me."

"I am," he states.

"Then why-"

"You're no longer an assistant."

Her knees go weak and she sits down taking a moment to process the statement before asking, "Then what am I?"

"An investigator." he says. They sit in relative silence together, broken only by Naru's drinking, until he continues, "You've proven yourself to be of more valuable than an assistant." He takes another sip of his tea. And then another.

It's rare when Naru gives compliments. He only gives them when they are deserved and so they mean a lot coming from him. Having just received one, Mai finds herself at a loss for something to say. She knows he means it without having to look him in the eyes to confirm it and, feeling somewhat embarrassed, she looks around the room at his books and maps instead.

Mai can't help but ask, "Why didn't you just tell me the other night? If you had, I wouldn't have freaked out so much when I saw Taka-chan at my desk."

"I wouldn't have asked you to come back if I was simply going to replace you." he says evenly.

"That's true," she says in agreement blinking and shaking her head wondering at how she'd let herself get so uneasy when she already knew that about him. "So as an investigator, what should I be doing?"

"Reading," he replies pushing a small pile of books towards her, "I got you some books to study."

"You bought me some books?"

"Well, they're not yours. They belong to the office, but, yes, you'll be the one using them. I figured you'd have a hard time reading all the ones I have in English."

Mai raises her eyebrow at the insinuated insult, but tries to ignore it. "Isn't it a waste of money, paying me to read?"

"That's up to you. These books are about the abilities you've shown so far. What's known about them and how to develop them."

"Aren't you just as bad at reading Japanese as I am at English? I remember you saying something maybe half a year ago about not being able to read kanji so how do you know what's in these?" Mai says picking up a book.

"Obviously, I have a reliable source," he seethes before looking away from her to a framed 5"X7" mirror—a new addition to his office Mai notes. He sighs, takes sip of tea, and looks back at her, already assuming a calm façade, "That doesn't matter. What _does_ matter is that, in-between cases, I'll also have you working with Bou-san to learn more mantras. I want you to be able to at lease protect yourself."

"That would be nice."

He nods "You'll be working in Lin's office temporarily. That way you won't have any distractions. Let me know how the books work out for you." he says holding out his now empty cup-an obvious dismissal.

Mai takes his cup and the pile of books before turning to leave.

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(1) I drew a picture for you guys though it doesn't show the white pin stripes on the pants unfortunately the editor refuses to take my link coding...I'll try placing a link on my Bio...

I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I feel I need to warn you guys that I take a long time to write a decent chapter It's taken nearly a month to go through these two and chapter 3 is nearly complete. Thanks for the support you've given already so far.


	3. Malignant Tattoos 1 - Interview

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the original story.

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Malignant Tattoos (Part 1)

September 15, Monday

Mai glances around Lin's office, once again feeling guilty that Lin himself has been forced to camp out on the couch for these last two weeks. He'd just come in to put away several books. It was normal for him to come in to drop off his books or take one from the book shelves. He hadn't stopped to talk this time, but sometimes he would take the time to do so, though, never for very long. He never seemed to talk with anyone very long. Poor Taka, though they had met before, he still seemed to consider her a new acquaintance-the type of relation he was particularly quiet around, Mai observed.

At tea time, Taka-frequently misinterpreting Lin's silence and focus for annoyance-would come in and spend as long as she dared just to talk to Mai who knew all too well that the only other company Taka got on a normal basis was the few people who came in with misunderstandings about what SPR was here for. Mai had plenty of experience in the past dealing with the misinterpretations so they had plenty to talk about.

Mai relished the breaks Taka presented her from her reading and note taking, but in the end she always had to surrender her tea cup and return to her studying. The only other distraction was the guilt that she wasn't truly doing anything with enough significance for Lin to deserve getting kicked out of his own office.

Today, along with the guilt, a feeling of anxiousness loomed. Earlier Naru had "asked her" to sit in on an appointment due to come in at 17:00-an interview for a case. It was the first real case to come up since SPR had reopened and it was her first time being told to participate in the questioning process. She'd participated before, but it had never been mandatory and even then, she'd not been able to add much-if anything...

A knocking on her door makes her jump and causes her to nearly spill her book on the floor. Still unused to this form of respect, she nearly forgets to say, "Come in."

Taka peaks in only long enough to say, "He's here," and then retreats, closing the door behind her.

Mai checks the clock, it's five 'til, their client is early. Taking a breath to fortify herself, she marks her page and leaves the office.

Upon opening the door, she sees Lin is sitting in the closest solitary black arm chair with his laptop ready to take notes and a man sitting on the couch closest her office with his back to her. His hair is a dull brown and beginning to gray in front. Mai shuts the door and behind herself and walks over to her seat.

As she starts coming around him, she notices that the man sits with his hands palm down in front of him on his lap and, when their eyes meet, her first impression of the man is that he's nicely dressed, probably rich, with what could be called an honest face—if it weren't for his hard-to-read deep, dark brown eyes. Somehow, he seems familiar to her, even though she knows that she's never seen the man before.

"Good evening," Mai says sitting in the arm chair across from the couch in the seat nearest Lin's, leaving Naru his favorite spot on her right.

"Good evening," the man replies in return.

Taka comes out of the kitchen with a tray carrying a single tea cup. She has just enough time to place the drink on the table in front of the guest before Naru comes out of his office, binder in hand.

Naru makes his way around the makeshift conference room/common room and upon sitting down he looks at the client and says, "Good evening. You are Kyouya-san, I presume."

"You are correct," Kyouya-san affirms. His eyes move around the group to Lin-who is the oldest-and then back to Naru. _He thinks Naru's too young_, Mai observes, _I hope he doesn't comment on it for his sake or Naru will kick him out_.

Naru nods, though Mai can't tell if it's in reference to Naru's self satisfaction at getting the name right or to answer Kyouya-san's unspoken question about who's in charge, before continuing with introductions, "I'm the director, Shibuya." He gestures to Mai, "This is my associate Taniyama-san and my assistants," gesturing first to Lin and then Taka before returning his gaze to Kyouya-san.

"I'm Kyouya Habiki. Pleased to meet you," Kyouya-san says to the group.

Naru opens his binder. "I understand that you believe your house is haunted. Please tell us the details."

"Ah. Yes. Well," Kyouya-san says taking out a small breast pocket notebook, "Sometimes there's knocking," he reads and then looks up, "hard knocking-in some of the rooms," he clarifies before continuing on without looking at the list, "at other times there are moans and other noises," Once again, he looks down at his list this time moving his finger down to the next item.

"Where do they happen?" asks Naru.

Pausing Kyouya-san looks up at Naru, "Uh...all over the house really."

"Okay, continue," Naru says.

"Some people have complained about having their ankles grabbed in the hallway and the stairs, but when they've turned to look, nothing was there." Mai quickly shivers at the thought, remembering her previous experiences of having her ankles grabbed and pulled on by ghosts as he goes on, "And," Kyouya-san continues, drawing out the word as he looks down again, "at one point, two of our maids claimed that they saw a ghost," he finishes.

"When was that," Naru asks.

"Last month on the 24th," Kyouya-san responds closing the small notebook and placing it back in his pocket. He grabs his tea and takes a sip.

"Have you seen the apparition?" Naru asks pensively with his hand on his chin.

"No, I haven't. In fact," Kyouya-san says thoughtfully. "No one else has seen it-at least, no one has come forward," he corrects himself hurriedly.

"Hmm...we'll need to speak with those two maids," says Naru.

"I'll give you their information, but I can't promise that they'll open up about it," Kyouya-san says, "After the experience, they admitted that they'd seen a ghost and then refused to speak of it further. They both quit working for me that day-a lot of staff did," he says lost in memory.

"We'll do what we can with the information," says Naru. "Tell us about your household."

"I have a teenage son, there's also my wife, and myself," Kyouya-san says.

_Kyouya-san has a son, I wonder if he's been poltergeising the house_, Mai ponders. "How old is your son?" she interjects.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Naru turn his head towards her and she unconsciously straightens her back and turns her head away from him a few degrees, growing suddenly nervous. H_e did asked me to participate didn't he? He sure hadn't asked the question yet and it needed to be asked anyway_, she tries to reassure herself. _Wasn't just then the best time for it_? Questions continue to race through her nervous brain as she keeps her eyes glued to the client, trying hard not to meet Naru's gaze, wondering if helping ask questions is actually what he wanted.

"He's 16," Kyouya-san answers with a doubtful look in his eyes.

_His son is probably too old_, Mai thinks disappointed-_not to mention it's more often girls in their early teens_., she lectures herself.

"Does age have anything to do with Ghosts?" Kyouya-san asks Naru.

"Sometimes, yes," Naru answers, "several poltergeist cases are caused by _young_ teens," he says in explanation before moving on, "You've mentioned maids and staff. Tell us about them."

"At the moment my staff has been reduced down to one maid and a cook. The maid stays in one of our basement boarding rooms and our cook lives about 10 minutes away."

"How long have they worked for you?"

"The maid, Haga-san, has been with us only a year and our cook has been with us for seven years," Kyouya-san answers.

"And when did the occurrences you've told us about begin," Naru asks.

After sitting back and pondering, Kyouya-san answers, "A couple years ago."

"How frequently do they happen," Naru asks.

"I'm not exactly sure. I've never tracked it, but overall, it's been gradually getting worse. Now it's bad enough that my wife refuses to come home. In fact, until this is taken care of, she's gone to visit her brother in England."

Mai unconsciously grabs her pant leg in thought, a feeling of unease nagging at the back of her mind that it seems a little extreme, running so far from a ghost that's passive—well, it didn't sound anywhere near as bad as any of the ghosts in the other cases they'd solved. _To run away so easily when it might not even be a ghost,_ she thinks, finding herself wanting to ask a question, but not knowing exactly what it is she wants to ask, just that there's got to be more to it.

Naru focuses on the movement and looks to Mai's face, furrowed in concentration. She doesn't notice. "Mai?"

At her name, Mai focuses again on the discussion, "Huh?," she utters looking at Naru.

"Is there something you want to ask," he asks.

Coming to a decision, she answers, "Yes," and turns to Kyouya-san to ask, "Are those all the details about the ghost?"

Kyouya-san clasps his hands on his lap, "There's..more," he says hesitantly, looking down at the tea cup in his hands.

"Go on" Naru coaxes him.

"I didn't want to scare you," Kyouya-san admits looking back up at them.

Naru sighs, folds his arms over his chest and leans back into his chair, "In order to help you fully, we need to know all of the details."

Kyouya-san looks up at him before starting, "The main problem is that every once in a while someone or something will disappear." Mai glances at Naru, whose eyes have narrowed, focused on Kyouya-san, who continues, "Sometimes it's various belongings...or staff...and...on one occasion...a visitor." He says haltingly, concern riddling his face. It started slowly, we didn't think much of it to tell you the truth. Things go missing sometimes, you know? It just happens in life. Even though it's more abnormal, we didn't think much of it when the first couple people disappeared." He takes a breath and his eyes look down at his clenched hands, remembering, "The first one just didn't come into work one day. Everyone thought that he'd quit without telling us. The second person who disappeared, Sato-san, was compulsive so when she disappeared it just seemed like something she would do. When Fujiwara-san disappeared it was strange-especially since she disappeared while she was following one of the other maids. The maid she'd been following told us later that when she turned around, Fujiwara-san was just gone, she'd vanished. That's when we started adding up everyone who'd gone missing. Two more of the disappearances happened similar to Fujiwara-san, they just vanished. It wasn't until the ghost was seen chasing Yamamoto-san and he disappeared that we really started blaming all of the disappearances on the ghosts. " He says grabbing his tea and taking a sip.

"Six people missing," Mai thinks aloud.

"When did these occurrences begin?" Naru asks, arms still folded, his face grim and head bowed.

Kyouya-san sits back and ponders. "A couple years ago, but the ghost only started making people disappear within the last six months."

Naru looks up and asks, "Have you gone to the police?"

"Of course I have." Kyouya-san says lowering his voice, his tone bordering on offended, "They're as baffled, and clueless as everyone else."

"Hmm..." Naru says pondering.

"I hope that won't deter you from helping us," Kyouya-san says looking uneasy.

Naru looks back up at him. "Honestly, though it's true that we've successfully dealt with disappearances in the past, we might not take your case," Naru says outright making Kyouya-san's head bow in defeat, "but we will discuss it amongst ourselves and our collaborators before deciding."

Kyouya-san looks up before getting up and bowing to Naru, "Thank you for your consideration."

"We'll contact you with our answer in a day or so. Good day." Naru says in dismissal. Looking to Taka-chan, whose been sitting on the ottoman to Naru's right, to show the man out.

"Oh!" she exclaims, jumping up, "Right this way." She leads Kyouya-san to the door.

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I hope you liked it.

Thanks for those of you who are following me or the story. I hope I can make it interesting for you.

Sorry it took so long so long to post my beta reader took a while to okay it.


	4. Malignant Tattoos 2 - Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the original story.

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_We're finally here_, Mai thinks as they reach the driveway's gate, impatient to get out and stretch her legs. The long drive had, thankfully been an uneventful one. She'd worried, in vain, about Monk pressing her for answers, since she knew that her haircut would be noticed and commented on, but Bou-san had had the decency not to question her about it again in-front of everyone, and no one had asked for the reason behind her haircut. If Bou-san had brought it up and demanded an answer while they were in the car, with the whole group surrounding them, it might have raised enough curiosity to have everyone asking, debating, and reasoning about it the whole trip, but thankfully nothing of the sort had happened.

Ahead of them Lin stops the car, interrupting Mai's train of thought, and Naru jumps out, quickly making his way over to a touch pad within the confines of a large wooden gate. After punching in a code, the large wooden gate, blocking the driveway, swings inward allowing the two vehicles entrance. They wait the time for Naru to get back into the van in front before both cars drive beyond the gate on the flat stone road that twists through a dense bamboo grove until it straightens out across a lawn. Mai takes the chance to take in the view of the house, now that she can see the large two story traditional style home with it's dark gray clay shingles and white colored stucco. In front of the house, centered in the round-about, is a three tier fountain, surrounded by small clusters of spiraled topiaries and flowers, grass running between each cluster.

The cars enter the circle and come to a stop close to the front step and both companies disembark, Naru, Lin and Taka from the van and Bou-san, Ayako, Masako, John-san, and Mai from the other.

Bou-san whistles looking up at the house, shielding his eyes against the sun with his hand, and asks, "What kind of job gets you a place like this?" to no one in particular.

"Being a CFO for Kaisha Daitec," Kyouya-san answers from up on the porch, pulling everyones' attention.

"Whoa, Sorry about that." Bou-san says jerking his focus down to Kyouya-san and running a hand over his hair in embarrassment.

"Nothing to worry about," Kyouya-san says to him.

Naru comes forward and introduces Bou-san, Ayako, John-san, and Masako."

Kyouya-san addresses everyone, "Pleased to meet you. I want to thank you all for coming. If you'll just come this way."

The group follows Kyouya-san through the door and into the genken(1) where there are several house shoes lined up ready to receive them. Kyouya-san steps into his house shoes and then walks over an open fire pit centered in the large room—where a maid stands. Once everyone has changed shoes, Kyouya-san introduces the woman, "This is the maid I told you about, Haga-san, She will be the one to show you around."

Coming off the stairs Haga-san walks to the corner and turns to the group crowding the small hallway after her, "Down here are the rooms you've been granted during your stay. They used to belong to the other servants that lived here, but there's only me left." She says with downcast eyes, "If you need anything, my room is this first one on the right," she gestures to the closest door after the turn. "I can't promise I'll be down here until after seven most nights." She gestures to the first door on the left, "This first door on the left is Kyouya-sama's study. " Pointing straight down the hall she says, "The door on the end is storage. Any of the other rooms down here are yours to use how you choose. Oh, and the bathrooms are down the hall and around the corner," She adds helpfully gesturing for the group to proceed ahead of her.

Naru, who is in the foremost of the group, is the first to take action after the the invitation and walks down the hall, opening first one door and then another until he reaches the fifth, and last, visible door on the right, "This room will be the base. ," he announces. He walks back towards the group he starts listing out his orders, "Matsuzaki-san, I hope you made enough protection spells, place them Where you need to in the rooms and the base. I want everyone protected down here at least. Monk, place around those written mantras of yours for good measure."

"Hey! Unlike someone's scribbled-on piece of paper," Ayako says meaningfully looking at Bou-san, "My spells will be enough by themselves." Unseen by Ayako, Naru, shakes his head.

_Here they go again_, Mai sighs. Bou-san huffs, "My cleansing tags are-"

"You can try to prove that you're better than each other some other time," Naru cuts in, arms folded, before the argument goes into full swing, He glares at the pair. When they open their mouths in protest, Naru continues "Right now, I want you both working together to keep us all safe. I don't think anyone here wants this to be like the last few cases." Ayako turns away from Bou-san, eye's closed, arms crossed; chin high. Bou-san shakes his head, putting his hands on his hips, and turns, making his way to the newly declared base.

Argument resolved, Naru continues dolling out tasks, "Hara-san, begin looking around the house for spirits. John, go with her. Lin, Mai and Takahashi-san, start bringing in the equipment." Mai's heart falters slightly, _so much for being more than an assistant_, she thinks, her face falling with her mood as she steps to let him pass. Instead of continuing past her, he stops and lowers his voice, "Mai."

"Yes," Mai asks looking up at him.

"Let me know if you sense _anything_ while you work," he answers.

"Al-alright," Mai replies.

Naru steps past her back towards the maid, "Haga-san, show me around." Haga-san nods and the two proceed up the stairs to look around the rest of the house.

* * *

(1) A genken is like an entry way or foyer for a house or apartment. It's where you leave your shoes before stepping into the main house.


	5. Malignant Tattoos 3 - Ashes to ashes

Disclaimer: I so don't own Ghost Hunt

* * *

Mai goes out to the van once again and grabs the last monitor and length of cord before going back inside. Upon stepping back into her house shoes, a chill runs down her spine—as if someone is watching her. She stops, clutching the small monitor to her chest with one hand and clutching a locket she keeps hidden under her shirt with the other, allowing her a small amount of comfort as she casts her eyes about the room looking for the source of the feeling.

The room around her is large with a traditional open hearth(1), currently devoid of fire, in the center of the room. Beyond the large fire pit is a short screen standing before an open doorway—the one she and Lin had used several times moving equipment to and fro. Left of the hearth, there's a short table and a small pile of cushions placed nearby with a floor lantern in the corner, on the left wall is another sliding door, this one closed, on the entry wall is a tea cupboard. To her right is another set of sliding doors and a short set of wood and glass cupboards that gives off a feel of lockers, but more elegant. The sensation continues pulsing down her spine, but there's no one in sight and no place for anyone to hide.

Although, previously, she'd felt troubled and anxious that she had had nothing out of the ordinary to report, Mai had also felt a great deal of relief—after all it's never good when a ghost reacts on the first day, but now she's on guard and all too well aware that, in this part of the house, she's alone now that Lin is busy setting up the equipment and Taka is working on rearranging the furniture. Cautiously, she continues her walk through the room, still scanning it.

When she reaches the middle of the room, a thump to her left startles her. She quickly faces the sound and takes a few steps away only to have her foot abruptly hit the hearth edge sending her teetering over the lip of the hearth. To catch herself, she flings her arms out, dropping the monitor, and rams her left forearm into the pot hook. She manages to catch a hold of the fish shaped handle with first one hand and then the other. Time seems to slow as she watches the handle in her hands sink with her for another foot before jerking to a stop.

She sighs with relief, _I stopped_. She takes two seconds to assess herself and realize that she's got both feet already partially in the pit with her, one on a stone slab and the other on a narrow grate, both out from under her, keeping her elevated above the cool ashes not quite horizontally.

Realizing that she'd heard a dull thud she looks down into the ash and spies the monitor awaiting its rescue from the gray substance, _Oops, _she thinks prior to pulling her left leg from the grate and into the ash beneath her.

As soon as her foot touches the ashes, her mind is plunged into an ocean of cold and the metallic tang of blood assaults her senses, making her gasp and scramble out of the pit. After she's out, she turns to the hearth and speedily retreats, backing into the screen in her haste.

Not taking her eyes off the accursed fire pit, she skirts around the screen and steps out of the room. The chill and smell cling to her as if they're physically holding her bound to the site. Desperately wanting to cut off the contact, she works to bring doors together, having to close first one then the other. Only after she smacks them together in-front of her is the contact severed and she finds herself released from the assault. Staggering away, she can't help but relive the memory and ends up collapsing onto her knees-one hand automatically covering her mouth, trying not to retch, while the other clutches at her stomach.

After a minute, Bou-san calls out from the direction of the stairs, "Mai, are you up here?"

Mai, focused inward, doesn't hear him. "Mai," he calls again, questioningly. It doesn't take long before he comes into view. After facing her, he rapidly closes the distance between them. "Mai, are you alright?" he asks crouching down next to her and placing his hand on her shoulder.

When his hand touches her shoulder, she turns to him startled, "Oh, Bou-san, it's just you," she says breathing heavy.

"Were you expecting to meet someone else out here?"

"No." she says trying to smile, but failing miserably.

"You're pale as a sheet," he observes before asking seriously, "what happened?"

"I...I fell...into the hearth," she responds looking at the floor and shivering, clutching herself once again.

"Hmm..." Bou-san says still serious his eyes glancing away towards the door behind her and back, "that explains your technique."

"Huh?" she asks looking up at him.

"You redecorated...I could be wrong, but I think Kyouya-san had something different in mind" Bou-san says leaning side ways unnecessarily to look around her.

"What are you talking ab..." says Mai, turning to look at the floor behind her. What she finds there are patches of light gray coming up behind her over the wood floor. Looking around more, she realizes that she'd been tracking the ash around with her house shoes—she'd been so scared that she hadn't even thought of the ash she'd placed on her shoes when she'd stepped into it. Bou-san's absurd comments about redecorating and the obvious contradiction reality presented force a chuckle to escape her lips. "What a poor sense of aesthetics," she says smiling and shaking her head.

"Ah, there you go. A beautiful smile," he says smiling himself. He stands back up and offers his hand to her. She takes it and is pulled up into a standing position.

Mai steps out of her shoes and while bending to retrieve them, she sees Taka come around the corner towards them. Mai straightens, shoes in hand and focused on Taka.

"Mai, Lin's asking where you are. He's already set up the rest of the equip—" she says looking behind beyond Mai, "What's going on?"

"Oh! The equipment," Mai exclaims looking down at her empty arms and then back over at the recently closed doors. She begins shivering once more at the thought of going back in and manages to take a step away from the room before her legs go weak.

Bou-san catches her before she falls, "Don't worry about it, you won't have to go back in. I'll go get the equipment for you," he says to her quietly.

"Are you okay," Taka asks, "you're so pale."

When Mai fails to respond again, Taka looks to Bou-san.

He shrugs, "All I know is that she fell into the hearth,"

"Is there a ghost in there?" Taka asks.

Bou-san faces towards the room in question, silently for a moment before answering, "I don't sense any."

"That's good enough for me. I'm going to bring in my bags."

"I'll take Mai downstairs then I'll come get the equipment," Bou-san offers.

"No! Stay with Taka," Mai demands snapping back into focus.

"What about you?" Bou-san asks

"I can make it downstairs by myself," she says trying to smile and sound confident.

Bou-san looks at her in his arms meaningfully, face full of doubt.

Understanding the meaning, she pushes away and stands on her own. "I can do it. Go with Taka."

He folds his arms in front of his chest, shaking his head.

"But—" Mai starts.

"If you're that concerned about it, how about we all go downstairs. Norio and I can come back up after you're situated." Taka suggests.

Mai nods, "I'll agree to that."

* * *

(1) For anyone interested, it's called an Irori. You can look it up on Wiki.


	6. Malignant Tattoos 4 - Recovery

Disclaimer: I didn't write the original ghost hunt.

* * *

"Wake up," Mai hears, rousing more with each prod from Ayako.

"I'm awake," she responds, opening her eyes, still somewhat groggy.

Ayako stops her nudging. "You're looking much better," Ayako says, seeming very much like a mother hen.

After yawning, Mai says, "Thanks to you."

"Don't mention it. In fact, _I_ need to thank _you_ for giving me an excuse to stay away from that stupid monk." Ayako says plopping down in a chair and crossing her arms and legs, her head looking away in thought.

Sitting up, Mai responds, "I wish you wouldn't talk about him like that, I really like Bou-san."

Ayako faces Mai once more and gives her a once-over, appraising glance before responding with a smirk, "And yet you've turned down his marriage proposal."

"What?" Mai asks.

"On the labyrinth case," Ayako states.

At the memory, Mai grips her sheets, frantically thinking, I_t's true that he proposed, but...but_, "He was only pitying me when he asked. He didn't really mean it," she insists looking Ayako in the eyes.

"Oh? He looked serious enough about it to me and whether it's pity or not," Ayako says, pausing before continuing on, "he wouldn't have asked if he didn't like the idea."

"That's not the point," Mai exclaims feeling herself blush, "I couldn't marry him. I love him like I would a father or an older brother."

Ayako snorts, quickly touching her fingers to her mouth as she begins to laugh. "Father or older brother indeed, you should see your face! Where did I put my mirror," she says getting up from her chair moving over to her things.

Mai watches the still laughing Ayako riffle through her things. "What about you?"

"Huh, what about me," Ayako asks, grin obvious in her voice.

"Don't you like him," Mai asks coming out from under the sheets.

She watches as Ayako straightens and turns around, all signs of her previous mirth gone, "What?! Don't be absurd! That adolescent trapped in a man's body? That guy who takes verbal jabs at me every chance he gets?" Ayako laughs once, "Surely, **Surely**, you don't really think I like him."

Haltingly, hesitantly, Mai says, "Well, yes. I do."

Ayako, obviously shocked, says, "What gave you that idiotic idea!?"

"Oh, nothing much," Mai says, hands held up, out in front of her.

"Liar. Tell me," Ayako insists, folding her arms.

Uneasy, Mai looks down at the unmade bed, rather than at Ayako, and starts explaining, "Well, on the last few cases we all had together you two got along pretty well. And, aside from the one today, you two haven't had an argument, like the one in the hallway, for a while right," she asks.

Ayako only taps her foot in response.

Suddenly unable to keep from moving, Mai grabs the sheet and pulls it in place before continuing, "And even when you do have arguments, it's about little things. Sometimes, it's almost like you're making up excuses to take jabs at each other—like flirting." She places the pillow at the head and raises her eyes to Ayako. "Am I wrong?"

Ayako huffs and looks away, "Of course you are! We don't like each other at all! We've been fighting since the first time we met! That oaf, I'd rather marry someone rich or at least easier to get along with. Heck, I'd even date Lin...I wonder how old he is..."

While Ayako continues her musings, Mai walks over and sits down in the chair next to the low guest table and checks to make sure that all of her things all found their way in. After five minutes, Mai cuts in asking, "So, about the case, what have I missed?"

Ayako waves her hand dismissively, "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. Naru has been keeping everyone busy setting the cameras up. I'll tell you what, this place is bigger than it looks from the front. I rolled my eyes when I heard that stupid monk's appraisal of this house. After all, it only looked like a wide two story house from the front and I'd seen plenty larger and many more grand, but with everything I've seen so far," she pauses in her talking, face thoughtful, "If it wasn't haunted, I wouldn't mind living here myself," she admits. Mai can't help but smile at Ayako confession.

A quick knock sounds from the door before it opens cutting any other conversation short. In walks Naru with John-san trailing behind.

"Are you all right," Naru asks Mai.

"I'm feeling better," she says glancing from him to Ayako.

He looks over to Ayako and asks, "Matsuzaki-san, what's you're prognosis?"

"She should be fine after she eats something," Ayako reports.

"Good. Then you're through here, Matsuzaki-san, I need you and John to set up the genken, the two hallway, and back porch cameras. Stay together," he commands.

Ayako shrugs, "Hai, Hai." (1)

Ayako walks out the open door in front of John, who shuts the door behind himself, leaving Naru and Mai alone. "Is there something you need me to do," Mai asks, standing up from her seat, ready for a task.

"First, I need you to tell me what happened up there." Naru says.

Before answering Mai hugs herself. "I was being stupid and fell in the hearth," Mai answers looking away.

Sighing, Naru crosses his arms, "Don't hold back on me, Mai."

Sighing in return, Mai turns and steps away from him towards the bed and grabs onto the foot board. The short memory washes over her once more, chilling her as she tells him few details there are. Naru remains silent after she stops talking and she turns back to see his arms still crossed and his face, lined with thoughtful concern, looking towards the floor. "I'm sorry for making everyone worry and fuss over me on the first day," she apologizes.

He looks up at her. "No harm done. Are you confident that as long as you avoid this 'Urado's bath,' as you described it, you'll be okay," he asks. When Mai nods, he unfolds his arms, "Alright, let's go get you something to eat and take your mind off of it." Naru says turning to leave.

Mai stares after him in wonderment, _I expected him to be more annoyed about the whole affair, but it doesn't seem like he is, in fact, his tone is soft. Is he...is he actually..._

After opening the door, he turns back to look Mai in the eyes, _It must just be my imagination_, she tells herself.

"What is it," he asks.

Realizing that she's just been staring after him, Mai steps forward. "I was just expecting you to be more mad or annoyed, you're not are you," Mai asks, pausing in her steps.

"No," he tells Mai calmly, gesturing for her to leave first, "it makes me uneasy."

She walks out ahead of Naru and turns towards the base, remembering that it has a kitchenette, but before she can go too far, Naru reaches out and grabs her hand in a firm hold. In surprise, she turns and looks at him in the eye before looking down at the connection. It takes only a second for her feelings, previously bridled and hidden from him since his return, to flood her mind with memories and then, painfully, retreat back to their confines as Mai remembers her confession and his rejection. She pulls her hand back and looks up once more at his blue gaze. She watches his eyes flick up from the space between them and, out of the corner of her eyes, she watches his hand, extended still, drop back to his side, "Tea won't be enough," he says before turning and leading the way to the stairs.

Mai follows, looking down at the hand he'd held, _You can't just do that, Naru, It means too muc__h to me. _She looks up at his back, retreating down the hall before her; towards the wood paneled staircase. _And yet it means__ something entirely different to you_...

* * *

(1) When "Hai" is said twice in a row like that it's dismissive or disbelieving. It's kind of like saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Sorry, this Chapter's taken a long time to write. Thank you guys and gals for showing an interest in my first ever fanfic, I really appreciate the reviews and that you guys are actually following me. I'm trying my best to write a good story for everyone, so please continue to be patient with my slow updates and please leave me reviews to tell me what you guys think. It's been good just to hear when someone wants more, but, if it's not too much, I'd also like to hear what you liked about the chapter or whatnot. Once again, thank you for reading.


	7. Malignant Tattoos 5 - Isamae-san

Disclaimer: Nope, I haven't died, nor do I own the original Ghost Hunt.

* * *

As she comes up the stairs, Mai notices Naru's hand hesitate before touching the door latch. Seeming to change his mind, he turns and looks back at her, his handsome face serious, "Mai, I want you to head today's interviews," he says calmly.

"What?" She asks dumbfounded. Continuing up onto the landing she asks "Are you sure?" He nods turning back to the door. Before he reaches for the handle, Mai asks, "Wouldn't you be better at asking?"

"It's not a question of who's better," he says, "nor will you be the only one asking. You'll just be leading the conversation."

Still confused, she asks, "Why me?"

He sighs, "In past cases, you've helped find important clues just by talking to people. You have a way of getting people to open up and share their true thoughts.(1) You make more details surface and you spark ideas that get others thinking about things they wouldn't have thought up on their own," he states, listing off the reasons with conviction and without pause.

When she doesn't ask anything further, Naru slides the bar on the door to the right and opens the door outward. "We'll be talking to the cook first, find out what she's seen and why she didn't run like the rest."

Naru lifts his hand to push through the kitchen's hanging curtain followed shortly thereafter by a smiling Mai. As she comes into the kitchen, she sees a woman with graying ginger colored hair occupied with rinsing vegetables at a large sink opposite them.

The woman, after glancing back, turns off the water. "Shibuya-san, can I help you?" she asks before drying off her hands and walking towards the pair.

Gesturing to Mai, Naru responds, "My associate has recovered."

The woman looks to Mai understanding lighting in her eyes, "Ah, you're the young lady who couldn't make it to lunch due to her fright."

_I am, but it sounds so bad when it's put that way_, Mai groans mentally, giving the woman a keirei. (2) "My name is Taniyama. Pleased to meet you,"

The woman bows in return, "My name is Isamae. Pleased to meet you." Upon straightening, Isamae-san pulls out a bar stool from under the island gesturing for Mai to take it saying, "Come sit down, Taniyama-san." Without waiting to see if Mai would take the seat or not, Isamae-san walks over to the counter and grabs a nicely dressed bento. Upon returning, she places it on the island counter in front of Mai.

"Thank you very much." Mai says, admiring the beautiful red, gold, and blue floral print.

Leaning against the counter top, Isamae-san says, "It was no trouble."

Mai sits and begins to open her bento all too aware of the two pairs of eyes watching her, "Itadakimasu,"(3) she says before taking her first bite. As she chews, the flavor of barbecued eel alights on her tongue, and she can't help but exclaim, "Oishii!"(4) Taking a better look at the food she's been handed, Mai sees unagi, rice, seaweed-wrapped tobiko, and a stringy, but pleasant looking green chuka salad a nicely arranged with a small bunch of longans partitioned off on the side.(5) Smiling, she takes another savory bite.

"I'm glad you like it," Isamae-san says with a smile before turning to Naru and asking, "Is there anything else I can get for you, Shibuya-san?"

"Red tea," he says in a flat tone.

Mai looks over at Naru, slightly shaking her head until he looks at her. _Naru, you jerk. You may be smart and darn good looking, but you should show proper respect to your elders. You should_-

"Taniyama-san, would you like anything to drink as well," Isamae-san says, interrupting Mai's mental rant and jerking her attention from Naru to the woman turned away from her, placing a kettle on stove.

_With Naru being so rude, I don't want to give her any more trouble so_, "I'll have the same," Mai states, finishing her thoughts aloud.

After taking care of their request, Isamae-san goes back to working, allowing Mai some time to enjoy her meal before Naru silently reminds her of her task with a nod in Isamae-san's direction.

Mai looks away from him, but nods her understanding, "Isamae-san, you've been working for Kyouya-san seven years. Pardon me for asking, but, with everything that's happened, hasn't it been rough?"

"It can get pretty hard now and again, but it wasn't always this bad," she says turning to grab a cutting board and laying it on the island in front of Mai followed shortly thereafter by the vegetables from the sink.

"Oh? When would you say that it started?"

Isamae-san grabs her own arm with one hand and places her chin in the other while her eye brows knit together pensively. "It's hard to say exactly when, but, if I had to guess, I'd say that it was a couple years ago...sometime around August," she says turning it into a question at the end.

"Did anything significant happen then," Naru asks.

Isamae-san looks to him, while she takes a knife out of the drawer in front of her. "That was around the time that the young master started acting up in school and getting himself kicked out."

"Has he been kicked out of many schools?"

"Oh, yes. If I'm right, his current school is his 10th from when it started."

"Wow, so many..." Mai takes the time to calculate mentally, _even with holidays...that's almost every two months...what kind of person would want to transfer that much? What person would give others so much trouble?_ "Is he in a gang?"

Shaking her head Isamae-san says, "I don't think so. He's was never a trouble maker before that."

Tentatively Mai asks, "Do you know why he started acting up like that?"

Smiling sadly, Isamae-san shakes her head, "No, I'm just the cook." Isamae-san proceeds to cut up the vegetables before her while Mai takes another bite.

"Is there anything else significant that happened around that time," Naru asks stepping in while Mai chews.

Isamae-san thinks about it for a moment, still cutting, before shaking her head and replying, "The only other thing I can think happened was that Madam went to stay with her relatives."

In surprise, Mai swallows and asks, "She didn't leave after the occurrences began?"

"Oh, no, definitely before."

"Huh, alright. For some reason, I was under the impression that it was the other way around," Mai explains aloud, mulling things over.

"No. She'd left a few months prior. Times got hard for Kyouya-san in her absence. It was like someone had cursed him or something and it doesn't help that the haunting started around the same time the young master got kicked out his first school."

"The haunting started then? I thought that it happened more recently," Mai says confused.

"The ghost was spotted more recently, but back then items started disappearing and the pounding and screaming started."

"Hmm.." Naru hums, hand on his chin in thought.

"Does it happen often?" Mai asks, "I haven't heard any pounding or screaming yet."

A shrill sound wails, draws the attention of all three of the rooms occupants to the radio at Naru's hip. "Takigawa-san, Takahashi-san, there's a ghost in the pool area with you," Masako's voice says in warning.

"Excuse the interruption," Naru says, turning down the radio so that Monk's reply comes out as a quiet whisper.

"So there really is a ghost here." Mai states, looking to Naru and then to Isamae-san.

Isamae-san cocks her head to the side, "With all that's happened here..." she seems to change her mind and then start again. "I didn't think you guys, being what you are, would doubt it."

"Oh, it's not that we doubted you," Mai amends, "We just had to make sure that it was really a ghost and not some structural problem or a psychic.

Looking thoughtful, Isamae-san scoops the contents of the cutting board off into her bowl after which she shakes her head. "There are so many strange things going on here. To answer your earlier question, there are times when the screaming and bangs happen, but a good majority of the time it doesn't happen at all. I haven't heard it since, maybe last Tuesday?"

"What's it like," Mai asks.

Isamae-san shakes her head, "Haga-san would probably be better to ask about that. I don't hear them all the time and I can't think of how to describe them."

"Okay. Kyouya-san mentioned that along with noises that there are also apparitions and things or people that go missing. Have you experienced any of those?"

"Well," she says looking at her knife, "yes. Sometimes things here in the kitchen disappear." She gestures with her hand towards the knife. "This knife for example...there are times where it and my other knives go missing. For this one, the last time it disappeared, was about a month ago. I was cutting up a leek. I remember turning to get my bowl and then turning back to find it missing. I finished what I was doing with another knife and then I looked around for it for about 20 minutes," she casts her eyes around the room, "but I didn't find anything. Just when I'd given up, I turned around and found it sticking up in the cutting board. Like this." She picks up the knife and sets it against the surface of the cutting board at a 50 degree angle.

"Are the knives the only things going missing," Naru asks.

"No, several different things do: Pots, side dishes; ingredients. The items always show up again, but definitely not where they'd been placed," she says looking towards the doorway beyond them. "And it happens at random—usually when there's no one else nearby."

"Are those kinds of disappearances the only type of thing that's happened around you?"

"No. There have been a few stove top fires and occasionally there are cold chills as if someone left the fridge open." She looks at the fridge, a large walk in with a steel door. "It's always been shut when I've looked though." Her gaze stays fixated on the fridge her free hand reaching up to rub the opposite arm up and down. "Um.." she says distractedly, "there is one other thing that's happened in here."

"Go on," Mai prompts.

Isamae-san continues staring at the fridge, rubbing her arm. "I...There was one time...that I went into the freezer. Um...it's inside the fridge," she says, finally breaking eye contact with the door and looking back at Mai. "I got locked in. I tried to open it. I even used my full weight to push against it. After a while I couldn't help but look around at all the frozen food and wonder if I was going to freeze to death in there. I got desperate. I started kicking and hitting the door and screaming, but, of course, no one heard me." (6)

"How did you get out," Mai asks, in concern.

"Just like with the knives...once I'd given up any hope of getting out, the door opened."

Mai lets out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "So scary."

"Yeah, Ever since then, any time I have to go in there, I've kept a box or something propped in the door way frantically hoping that it won't happen again."

"So, even after all the noises, disappearances and you getting trapped in the freezer, what's keeping you here?"

Sighing, Isamae-san leans against the counter before answering. "To put it simply, I need the money. I don't have another job lined up and even if I did it. Most cook positions don't pay as well as Kyouya-san does. My husband is in the hospital—I can't afford to leave."

"But it attacked you—it trapped you in the freezer," Mai iterates.

"Yes, it did trap me, but it hasn't ever hurt me. It's had several occasions where it could have done so. If it had wanted to hurt me, it would have done so by now. At least that's what I tell myself."

* * *

(1) The word I'm going for here is honne. As in honne VS tatemae i.e. true feelings and desires VS public façade.

(2) keirei – it's a 30 degree angle bow. It's respectful and for people of a higher rank than you or someone you've just met for the first time type deal.

(3) Just to explain it, since I know some of my readers don't know much about the culture "Itadakimasu," roughly translates to "Thanks for the food," or "Let's eat." It's tradition to say it before a meal.

(4) It's good to complement the cook. Oishii means "Delicious."

(5) Essentially, excluding longans, this is a list of my favorite sushi toppings, but Mai is not eating sushi...well, except the tobiko. Unagi is fresh water eel, tobiko is flying fish eggs, and chuka...it's a green with a fairly calm flavor and interesting texture. The longans are a kind of fruit..it tastes somewhat like pears, but with a texture similar to a peeled grape, but more firm like the inside of a jelly fish. I don't really care for longans myself, but they fit nicely into a bento.

(6) When I was a kid, I watched a movie once of a lady that got trapped in a cold tunnel-filled place and died there, I can't remember anything else about the movie, but since then I've been scared of cold enclosed spaces. Especially walk in freezers. It's not a phobia, but I will start panicking if I can't get out. I remember one manager I worked under laughing at me when I admitted that the reason why I would run through the freezer to get the items and get back to the door before it could shut was because I was scared of getting stuck in there...I've been trapped in a few freezers since.

Sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. You have no idea how much just I wanted to skip it, but as is usually the case, the more I wrote, the more I enjoyed it, but, boy, it was hard to write for a while there. Thanks to it, though, some of the 9th chapter is already written and I'm excited because we're starting to get into part of the plot that made me want to write this story in the first place...I also organized my time line for the rest of the plot so it should start getting smoother for me to write. Hopefully, that will mean quicker updates-that is after chapter 8 which should be my last REALLY slow release-it's already about 1/3rd written though.


	8. Malignant Tattoos 6 - Haga-san

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt no matter how much I'd love to have that much writing tallent.

* * *

Bowing, Mai says, "Thank you for all of your time Isamae-san."

"The pleasure is mine," the older woman says smiling and bowing in return. "Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

Naru slightly bows to her and then exits the kitchen.

_How can she still smile like that,_ Mai thinks following after Naru_, after everything that's happened—_

"Lin, where's Haga-san?" Naru asks his radio, interrupting Mai's thoughts.

"She's upstairs in the Eastern most hallway," Lin reports.

Naru makes a few notes in his notebook before closing it and leading the way back to the stairs. He looks back once at Mai before proceeding up. In silence they continue up the stairs and straight through the hallway beyond.

At the end of the hall, they turn the corner and Haga-san comes into view a short distance away. She turns from her task with a jerk to look in their direction, candlestick in hand. "Oh! Shibuya-san, Tanimaya-san, it's just you," she says, relaxing visibly.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to frighten you." Mai says

"Oh, I know, it's just me being jumpy is all. Don't mind me," she says turning to place the ornate candlestick she'd been polishing back onto the trinket-laden table beside her before turning back towards them. "Is there something I can do for you?"

Mai nods before saying, "We've got some questions we'd like to ask you."

"What would you like to know?" Haga-san asks turning her head to the side slightly, as if unsure.

"What can you tell us about the things happening around the house?"

Without stopping Haga-san momentarily tilts her head to the side in consideration, "Well, that's a broad subject. Where would you like me to start?"

"Tell us about the moaning and thumping sounds and what they sound like."

"Okay, well, they happen irregularly. Sometimes they're happening like crazy and at other times—like last week—you don't hear them at all. As for what it sounds like...um...well...there's several different sounds. There's a rumbling noise sometimes, at other times it's a loud thumping noise as if something heavy, like a wash bowl full of marbles or something, just hit the ground. Every once in a while, it can sound like a wailing—almost as if someone's screaming, but on the other side of a wall or something; muffled and indistinct...at least...I've never been able to make out any words."

"Has anyone ever heard words?"

"Koume-chan mentioned that thought she heard someone screaming something, but I can't remember what _exactly_ it was she said she'd heard, nor can I tell you exactly when, but it was some time ago.

Naru opens his folder and looks something up, "Takeuchi, Koume. She was one of the maids that saw the ghost."

"That's right."

"I see," Naru says. "Next question: Has anything paranormal happened to _you_ while you've worked here?"

"Well, aside from hearing all those sounds," she says uneasily looking from Naru to Mai and back, "there was one time when I was coming upstairs. I had gone about halfway up when it felt like a hand wrapped around my ankle, but when I turned to look for the hand's owner, I didn't see anyone. Before I could make sense of it, my ankle got yanked," she makes a pulling gesture, "and I fell back onto the landing."

Mai winces, drawing in a quick breath through clenched teeth. "Ouch."

"How long ago was that?" Naru asks.

"It was around the beginning of the year...so about 9 months ago?" Haga-san says, turning away to grab and begin polishing a smaller candlestick.

Mai, sharing a glance with Naru, says, "Next, we'd like to know about the—"

"The disappearances," Naru insists.

Haga-san pauses in her cleaning, a rigidity in her limbs, as if she'd frozen solid for an instant.

When Haga-san doesn't answer, Mai asks, "Did you…know them?"

"Yes…" Haga-san says slowly, lowering the candlestick. "Well, some of them," she corrects herself, placing the candlestick back on the table. She keeps herself turned away from the two, staring down at the table, but not seeming to see anything upon it.

"Tell us about them," Mai requests, keeping her voice soft.

"In order of disappearance," Naru adds brusquely.

"If...if it will help," Haga-san says before taking a breath and turning back towards them, keeping her eyes down. "If I recall correctly, everyone agreed that the first to disappear must have been Nakashima-san. I didn't really know him, but I…I think...I'm pretty sure that he was a chauffeur."

"When did Nakashima-san disappear?" Naru asks.

Haga-san looks to the side. "He disappeared sometime this last spring. I remember Yuuki-kun telling all of us that Nakashima-san had been livid when he'd left that day. That's really all I know about him," she says looking back up at them.

"Alright," Mai says, "who's next?"

"The next person who disappeared was Sato-san. I'm pretty sure that we all noticed her absence, it was April first after all, but no one was sad when she didn't come back. She'd probably only come here to serve herself in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Mai asks.

"You know...she was self-serving—she didn't look out for the common well being at all," she says emphasizing her words with a cutting motion. "Sometimes she came in late or left early, at other times she sluffed off, pulled pranks, broke things, or blatantly skipped chores. She was hard to work with."

"So she was a maid," Mai says thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"And she just disappeared?" Mai asks

"Yeah, and no one ever heard from her again."

"Who was next?" Naru asks.

"Next was..." There's a pause and then Haga-san's voice mellows as she says, "Tsu...Tsubaki." There's a long pause as the maid looks down and away. "She was sweet...and a bit clumsy," Haga-san says fiddling with her rag. "A klutz really," she says, sparing them a brief smile before a slew of different emotions race across her face and she looks away. "She broke a lot of things, but you know she didn't mean to. She was a really nice person...and my friend."

"Fujiwara,Tsubaki?" Naru asks calmly, consulting his notebook.

"Yes," Haga-san replies bowing her head and veiling her eyes with her dark brown hair.

Naru nods. It's then that Mai remembers Kyouya-san's words from the interview, _"The maid she'd been following told us later that when she turned around, Fujiwara-san was just gone..."_ She turns to Naru seeking a confirmation. "She was the one whose disappearance was so strange." When their eyes meet, Naru nods.

"Where was it that she disappeared?" Mai asks.

"It was downstairs, in the hallway by the pool." _Wait a second, _Mai thinks momentarily stunned, _isn't the pool where Monk and Taka were attacked earlier?_

"There are three hallways by the pool. Which one is it?" Naru asks impatiently.

"The hallway running east and west, but even with all the glass no one saw what happened to her"

"What happened after that?" Mai asks.

"When it was reported that she was missing, everyone looked for her—even the chauffeurs and gardeners, but, in the end, no one could find her." Looking up at them once more, she says, "A lot of people liked her and later that night, in the common room...your 'Base,' a small group of us, a hand full of people from the search party and those of us who lived here, started talking about her and her disappearance. The more we discussed it, the more we started thinking about Nakashima-san and Sato-san's disappearances—how none of us had heard from them even though Yuuki-kun had tried to get a hold of Nakashima-san several times—to no avail."

"Yuuki-kun? You've mentioned him before. Who is he?" Mai asks.

"Watanabe, Yuuki," Haga-san says with a smile, "He was one of the butlers and a good friend to me...well to everyone. And everyone liked him."

"Did he disappear too?"

"No...no, he quit, but that's later, I'm getting ahead of myself. The next person to disappear was Fujiwara, Tokuro. He was a butler, but he was a bit obsessed with making video games—and playing them. In fact, his game system is still down in the common room..." She bites her lip and looks away for a second. "After him was Abe-san. I saw her around plenty, but I didn't really know her—or even what her job was here. And the last person to vanish was Yamamoto-san. I understand that he was one of the higher-ups at Kaisha Daitec. Kyouya-san had invited him and his wife over for the weekend.

"The morning that Yamamoto-san reported that her husband had never come back to bed, everyone was gathered to look for him. During that meeting, when the head butler asked us if any of us had any ideas where Yamamoto-san might be, Koume-chan and Ruka-chi confessed that they'd seen a ghost pursuing him late the night before." She pauses and then says, "No one laughed about it...it kind of felt right. We'd all known something was wrong.

"I remember that after Koume-chan and Ruka-chi confessed, there was a brief silence and then everyone was talking, discussing the possibility. When they were pressed for more information, Ruka-chi mentioned something about the ghost being yakuza.(1) It was hard to hear anything else over the noise, but before I knew it, about half the room had quit including Koume-dan and Ruka-chi. Out of those left, some stayed on just long enough to search and then they too quit."

"What about you?"

"I didn't really, fully, believe in ghosts, but everyone kept quitting, before I knew it, I was the last maid left. After _that_, I couldn't quit. I still can't."

"What's keeping you here?" Mai asks

"Well, there's two things really. One, I'm a foreigner." (2)

"Oh," Mai breaths, looking over at Naru, _She's probably in a lot of the same circumstances Naru __is then,_ "so you can't get an apartment or another job easily." Mai concludes. "You don't have anyone to vouch for you? Not Yuuki-kun or Kyouya-san?"

Haga-san pauses biting her lower lip, "Yuuki-kun might do it, but I'd hate to ask him. As For Kyouya-san, he's the other reason I'm still here. You see, I...I also tried to resign. When I handed him my notice, he begged me to stay. He begged so fervently that despite my hesitations, my fears, I promised to stay until he hired someone else, but he should have hired someone by now so promise or no promise, I'll be quitting at the end of the month. By then I'll have enough money saved up to go back home."

* * *

(1) Yakusa—it's about equivalent to a mafia. Among other things, they are noted for having tattoos—which is one of the reasons why people who have tattoos aren't allowed into public bath houses in Japan.

(2) Foreigners in Japan have very little chance of getting anyone to let them sign a lease without someone vouching for you. Foreigners aren't liked in Japan especially ones who don't speak the language. So if you're planning to go there, when in Rome do as the Romans and all that, but know that there will still be places you'll be denied access to.

Sorry these last few chapters have taken so long and sorry if it felt like I was throwing around names this time. Thanks for the support it means a lot. I get so excited when you guys review and mark me as a favorite. I love seeing all of your visits especially those from outside the states.


	9. Malignant Tattoos 7 - Kyouya, Asahi

Disclaimer: The original Ghost Hunt doesn't belong to me.

* * *

Mai smiles at Haga-san as they walk down the hall. "Thank you for being candid with us."

"Well, Kyouya-san asked me to give you anything you needed but I don't know if anything I said really helped you at all," she says rubbing her arm.

"Don't worry about it, what you've told us helps plenty," Mai says reaching out to touch the maid's arm in reassurance. "If you think of anything else we might have missed, feel free to tell us."

Haga-san smiles in return. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"We still need to speak with the young master," Naru states. "When will he be home?"

Checking her watch, Haga-san says, "He should be home by now. In fact, he should be in the backyard practicing."

"Alright. Then we'll go see him next," Mai says.

"Would you like me to retrieve your shoes for you?"

"If you would," Mai says.

Haga-san nods. "I'll meet you at the back porch then."

After hitting the landing and exiting the stairwell, Mai and Naru turn left and start down the long hallway. Along with the soft whisper of cloth and the occasional creek of wood beneath their feet, there's a din of banter from somewhere ahead and a hint of something in the air: A bitter, crisp smell that you can almost taste. Chlorine.

Mai's eyes grow large as they come to the first hallway and she sees large, long windows showing an enclosed pool area. As they go on, she continues peering through the glass, looking at the custom built pool surrounded by several plants and chairs—some of which have been scattered about the area along with cushions and pool supplies.

Amongst the items and debris she spies a camera tripod tipped over, one of it's legs in the air. _T__here was a ghost in there_ she thinks to herself,remembering the interruption back when she and Naru had been talking with Isamae-san._ Taka and Bou-san must have placed the camera before they'd had company..._she reasons._ I hope they're okay._ She looks around for the two until the sheet of glass changes into a solid wall—cutting off her view of the pool area abruptly.

After passing several closed doors, they arrive at another hallway and the banter that she'd heard earlier now sounds like Ayako. Mai can't help turning her head to look for the woman and finds her at the other end of this new hallway, turned the other way. She's standing with one hand on her hip and the other hand motioning something off towards John-san, who was crouching working on a camera and not facing them. Mai smiles, _I wonder what Ayako has found to tease __John-san about,_ she thinks, smiling.

"Shibuya-san," a voice says behind Mai. She turns, in surprise, to face the opposite direction—the source of the voice—and her eyes lock onto Kyouya-san senior whom both she and Naru had passed by without seeing. His arms are crossed in front of him and he's leaning casually against the wall in a black suit, his face serious.

"Kyouya-san," Naru says turning calmly towards him, a hint of question in his voice.

"I've been watching this pair," he says pointing his finger down the hall, "since I came home and I find myself wondering what it is I'm paying that woman to do."

Naru, glancing back at the still chittering Ayako, returns his gaze to Kyouya-san. "She is a medium, and a limited priestess."

"A limited priestess?" Kyouya-san asks.

Naru nods. "If the conditions are wrong, she lacks the ability to exorcise."

"What conditions does she need?"

"I understand that it hinges on the state of the surrounding trees."

Kyouya-san hums to himself thoughtfully and rubs his chin in thought with his right hand. "Sounds unreliable, untrustworthy."

"I wouldn't employ her if she was useless," Naru states.

Beyond Naru and Mai, Haga-san steps into view on the back porch and walks over to the edge of the deck where she proceeds to set down two pairs of shoes on the step just beyond. Kyouya-san, glancing in her direction—Mai following his gaze—asks, "Where are you two off to?"

"We need to ask your son a few questions," Naru says.

"Ah," Kyouya-san breaths, "Good luck. Oh, and I apologize ahead of time for his behavior. It's been rough on him since his mother left."

"So we've heard," Naru says. "Speaking of which, you have not been honest with us about your wife. You led us to believe that she left after people started disappearing."

"Hmm," Kyouya-san hums raising his hand once again to his chin, thoughtfully. "Yes, I did," he says finally allowing his hand to drop back down.

"Why?" Mai asks.

Kyouya-san sighs. "I didn't want Asahi to find out."

"She was leaving you." Naru states.

Kyouya-san's head lowers to his chest. "I told her to give it sometime, but it's been two years..." He turns away, leaning the whole of his back against the wall; looking like a fallen picture in his despair. "I guess...she won't be coming back," he says finally, as if to himself.

"I'm sorry," Mai says.

Kyouya-san shakes his head and sighs, standing up straight and turning back to them. "Anyway, good luck. I'll be in my study if you need me."

They watch as he turns down the hallway they'd just come from and walk away, his head down.

"Poor guy," Mai says sadly. Her look of concern quickly changes to one of indignation before she huffs, "It's rude of his wife to just leave him like that."

"We're not here to judge the state of their marriage or whom to blame," Naru says turning to continue down the hallway and away from her.

They both change out of the indoor slippers and turn towards the young master, a dark brown haired boy wearing a long sleeve white gi and black hakama.(1)

He pulls back the string on his bamboo bow before Mai can ask, "Kyouya, Asahi-san?" but he doesn't turn to look at them until his arrow flies and hits the second ring from center.

After turning his deep brown eyes towards the two he asks, "Who are you?"

Mai starts, "This is Shibuya, Kazuya-san," Mai says, gesturing to Naru, "And I'm Taniyama, Mai."

"Are you guys from school or something?"

"We're Shibuya Psychic Research, SPR for short. We're here to research the phenomena happening around your house," Mai explains.

He draws another arrow from his standing quiver. "Does that mean that you guys are ghost hunters?" he asks nocking the arrow in place and taking aim.

"Researchers would be closer to the truth, but in a way I guess you could say that."

The young man looses his arrow and it lands far off center. "And my old man hired you?" he asks in disbelief.

Mai nods. "That's right."

He laughs. "That man must be off his rocker. You guys can't be much older than me...can you?" the young master asks sceptically.

Mai looks to Naru uneasily. He returns her gaze calmly, until she turns back towards Asahi. "Well, it's true that you and I are the same age, but—"

The boy huffs and shakes his head. "Didn't your mom ever teach you better than to go around scamming people?"

"What!?" she exclaims in indignation._ How dare he talk about my mother that way!_ Mai's eye brows knit together. _But_, she thinks, "We aren't here to scam him!" she says aloud, her voice raising a fraction higher.

"Yeah," he says with a scoff, "I bet you aren't." He sneers.

"We're not!" she insists.

"You know, I might believe you if you were older and _if_, only if, you didn't stream along your sickly looking boyfriend here," he says glancing and gesturing to Naru, "to keep you company."

Mai balls her fists at her side. "Naru is not—" she catches herself, "Shibuya-san is not my boyfriend!"

"Oh ho! No honorific. Just 'Naru' is it?" he says folding his arms and looking appraisingly at Naru. "Sounds like you're very intimate to me."

Mai huffs, and with a raised voice says, "It's not like that."

"Whatever," he says raising his hands between them. On both hands he's displaying his pointer and middle fingers intertwined with each other—a kid's gesture used to ward off dirty things or people they don't want to be contaminated by—a barrier he's put up against Mai.

Mai can't help but get a good look at the gesture. "You jerk!" She says snapping her eyes back up to his. "You childish—"

Before Mai can move or say anything more, Naru lightly, but firmly grabs her by the shoulder with his left hand and pulls her away from the boy and turns himself to face Kyouya, Asahi. "You are wasting our time. I'm her boss and I have some questions for you. Taniyama-san," he says looking to her and pausing until she turns her attention to him. "Go sit down and cool your temper. I'll take care of this myself. And I'll remind you," he adds slowly, warningly, "don't go inside by yourself and stay where I can see you."

Even though Kyouya, Asahi-san makes another snide remark, Naru keeps eye contact with Mai, his cool blue eyes soothing her temper until she can nod her understanding. Only when she moves to comply does he release her from his grasp.

* * *

(1) Hakama are the traditional Japanese pants. They're commonly used in kendo, archery, etc. Priests/priestesses also wear them.

Amare, Thank you for telling me that my footnotes were annoying you. After a lot of contemplation, I think that it's highly unlikely that I'll keep all of them away for various reasons, but I will promise you that I won't repeat having as many as chapter 7 did and that any personal annotations will be construed differently. I will also try to explain as many would-be-footnotes as I can in context if I can and if it does not interrupt the flow of the story. I hope that will be sufficient. -Koujinbutsu

I have a few questions for you guys:

Is there anyone who likes the foot notes?

What do you guys think will happen?

Thank you for reviewing and following me or the story. Thank you so much for reading. I love seeing your visits in my stats and I love getting comments. I love it all. Thank you, Thank you Thank you!


	10. Malignant Tattoos 8 - Rejection Debate

Disclaimer: I don't own the original story

* * *

"Come on, Mai. Tell us who it is," Ayako says beseechingly.

Remaining cool and composed, Mai shakes her head and says, "I'm not telling,"_ If I did, I'd probably have more trouble on my hands,_ she adds mentally.

"Don't think you're leaving here without telling us," Monk threatens.

She rolls her eyes. _He just had to bring it up at dinner_! She thinks, looking across the table to catch a glimpse of the smug looking monk. Everyone had seen her haircut,(1) but they hadn't asked because they knew that it wasn't any of their business, but Monk had had the gall to bring it up at the dinner table and made it their business when he mentioned that there was something that Mai hadn't "reported." After a moment of silence, probably for dramatic effect, he'd let the bomb (That she had, in fact, cut her hair because she'd been rejected) drop. _His_ meddling started this siege of questions and, somehow, the subject hadn't burnt itself out yet.

Despite her premeditated answer, Mai had expected the truth to come out quickly, what with so many people discussing it and the culprit sitting amongst them, but that had not been the case. How the result happened still confused her, but she was relieved to find that in the midst of all the attacks, there was one thing she no longer had to worry about: No one was going to press her any further about Naru being the one who'd rejected her—not that they hadn't tried.

After her initial refusal to answer, Bou-san had opened up the subject for debate to the whole room. The first person to take a swing at answering it had been Masako, and the obvious first guess was Naru, but before anyone else had a chance to comment on it, Bou-san, himself, rejected the idea. A handful of looks were cast his way and he proceeded to lay out his reasoning as to why. The way Bou-san presented his facts and added it together for the group made it seem like Naru was in love with Mai—earning Naru several wide-eyed looks and comments throughout the explanation.

At the end of the explanation, when he was pressed, the only comment Naru had offered was, "No matter what I say, you'll believe what you want." And so, by some twist of fate, Bou-san had gotten the group to believe that Naru wouldn't have turned her down—at least it seemed that way since no one brought up Naru's possible involvement again after that.

Mai found Bou-san's logic, and the fact that everyone seemed to believe it readily, baffling since she hadn't seen even half of what Bou-san claimed to be the truth about Naru's affection towards her, and none of it changed the fact that he _had_ already rejected her. With what the monk proclaimed in such opposition to the past, Mai couldn't find it in herself to believe _any_ of the facts he'd presented and so she threw all hope that Naru might like her out of her mind completely.

A chuckle brings Mai out of her reverie and she scans the faces surrounding the table, her eyes first falling on the grinning Monk across from her. Next to him, Taka is talking animatedly about something that sounds like it could be a guess as to why Mai might have been rejected. Beside her, at the head of the table, is Naru. He's eating, looking completely detached from what's being said. To his left, obviously paying attention, is Lin. From her view of his profile, Mai can see one corner of his mouth curved up at the edge. _He's smiling,_ she observes.

A movement out of the corner of her eye catches her attention and she turns to see Masako, now hiding her mouth behind her kimono sleeve, glee dancing in her eyes._ And Masako is __smiling too...either that or she was the one who had been laughing earlier_, Mai acknowledges, starting to feel embarrassment creeping into her cheeks. Looking away from the kimono clad teen, Mai's eyes fall on John-san, who looks conflicted between humor and concern.

Ayako stands up next to Mai and slaps her hands down on the table, cutting off yet another of Taka's remarks, her face obviously not amused and her voice raised at Taka. "Like she'd do that. Besides, no matter what scenario you come up with, trying to guess the reason why she was rejected won't help us figure out who did it!"

"She's right," Bou-san says turning in his seat to look at the brown hair girl on his left. "We can look into why she was rejected later."

As everyone's attention is drawn back to her, Mai puts her head in her hand, finding that she wants nothing more than to leave the room, the nature of these debates wearing on her mind. _But Bou-san probably won't let me leave_, she reasons, resigning herself to herself to stay seated, but hoping that they'll allow her to leave soon.

Pulling her hand away from her face, she lets out a long breath and glances around the crowd once more. _This scene would probably be funny_, Mai admits to herself, _if it wasn't for the fact that my love life is the topic of debate_.

Taka starts, "Okay. well then, what about that Yasu—"

Her comment immediately earns her a, unanimous "Not possible," from both Ayako and Bou-san before she can even get the whole of the question out.

"He also likes Mai-san," John says with an apologetic smile.

"But," Taka says looking from John to Bou-san in confusion, "I thought he liked Norio."

At the comment, Bou-san shivers noticeably, his eyes shut tight in obvious repulsion while Ayako covers her mouth, laughing jovially,(2) and falls back into her seat.

At Taka's confused look, John explains, "Even though it's sometimes hard to tell when he's joking, Yasuhara-san is straight."

"Oh." Taka says hesitantly and after a pause asks, "How about—"

"It's _that idiot_," Naru says all of the sudden, his tone matter-of-fact—silencing everyone by actually joining in on the conversation as well as drawing everyone's attention to him.

As Mai looks at him, their eyes meet and something about the look in his eyes and the tone he'd used reminds her of the conversation they'd had about Gene before they'd found his body. She drops her gaze first, already too lost in memories to deny the statement—leaving the rest of the group looking back and forth between the two.

Bou-san stands up, turning towards Naru in eagerness, and asks, "Who is he?"

From the end of the table, Naru's gaze remains fixed on Mai, his jaw clenching as he too gets to his feet. "Lin," he commands, ignoring the question directed at him and moving to leave. Lin follows suit and the two start on their way out.

Ayako gets up entreating Naru as he begins his move towards her and the door beyond, "Wait, Naru, who is it?" When he doesn't answer, she steps into his path.

Momentarily halted, he levels a cold look at her and she takes a step back towards the table, allowing him enough room to step past her. Defeated, she turns her appeal to Lin. "Do you know who it is?" Lin shakes his head in the negative.

Placing his hands on the table, Bou-san leans across the table towards the retreating pair. "Naru, tell us. You obviously know already," he says casting his right hand towards an unresponsive Mai, "so tell us."

Naru stops. "All this over a hair cut," he murmurs under his breath before turning to look over at Bou-san "Is it really any of your business?" Naru asks. He looks around the room for an answer. When no one responds, he opens the door. "Now, if you're done harassing Mai, there's still work to do downstairs," he says before walking out, Lin trailing after. When the door shuts behind the duo, silence reigns and a few guilty faces turn to look at the girl in question.

Mai continues to sit, her thoughts on Gene and their time together until the memories end abruptly with an undertone of depression and his last words: a vague sentence closing with, "Nevermind." He'd left it at that: he never returned, never uttered a goodbye; he'd just left. _In a way, Naru is right. He did reject me by moving on..._she concludes, letting the information sink in. _So that means...I've been rejected by both brothers,_ she realizes.

Her focus returns to the present, her gaze returning to Naru's vacated chair. Looking around, she takes in the solemn faces in the group around her and the second vacated chair. Of the group, only John, a sad look on his face, can meet her eyes without shame. As she looks around, at the silent crowd, Mai's desire to escape returns in full force. Given the state nearly everyone is in, she knows that no one will stop her now.

Getting up, she excuses herself and turns to leave the room. As she heads to the door, John does a quick glance around the room and, after a moments hesitation, follows after her.

* * *

(1) Rosedream brought up a good point in her review...To me the significance of Mai cutting the hair was so "normal" that I didn't think it needed explaining, but obviously it does.  
In Japan specifically, at least as I understand it, for women, long hair is considered a woman's greatest asset. And thus someone cutting a girl's hair is a major offence against the person—in bullying for example. If a person has their own hair cut then cutting it is a sacrifice or a release of power. It's is normally done to signify closure, growing up, or a new start. Though it isn't just girls, I think I've seen it used most after a girl's gone through extreme heartbreak.  
Along with that, it's origin is probably from the Confucius belief that you shouldn't cut your hair because your body is the gift given by your parents and harming your body, even something like cutting hair and fingernails/toenail is considered disrespectful to your parents. As strange as that may sound, it's not just part of the Japanese culture, in fact many oriental cultures have some degree of Confucian beliefs, but it isn't solely a Confucius belief either. The Native American culture believes that cutting your hair is cutting your spirit. And, last but not least, it's also reflected in the bible: the story of Sampson and Dahlia.

(2) Ayako isn't being quiet and demure like Masako tries to appear. The Japanese tend to be self conscious of their teeth—which is why so many cover their mouths when they laugh.

Just to set the record straight, this is how they are sitting clockwise: Naru is at the head of the table, next are Lin, Mai, and Ayako, John is at the foot of the table and then it's Masako, Monk, and Taka.  
And to anyone who caught it, Yes, I do realize that the only person who is actually in his proper seating order by Japanese custom is Naru. I apologize that I wasn't thinking about seating order properly when I wrote it not to mention it would take a long while to correct it tastefully.  
For those who don't know the rule, the highest ranking person or most important guest is seated at the kamiza (the seat of honor and the place furthest from the door as in the head of the table). The further down the table you are placed from the kamiza, the lower your position until you reach the shimoza (the worst spot) which is at the foot of the table with your back to the door—This is just a guess, but it's probably the worst seat because if someone attacked with a sword, you'd be the first to die.

Anyhoo, Sorry for all the mistakes and odd wordings. Thanks for all of the reviews and thanks so much for following me and all the feed back about the footnotes. I like writing them. All throughout writing chapter 9 I was worried about putting them in and it did slow me down, but knowing that the majority of you like my footnotes has lightened my heart. I hope I can get the next chapter to you soon.


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